By Zik Gbemre

One of the craziest practices we have observed in this nation is the ‘unquenchable thirst’ for Titles, Honours and Awards. Even when the individual does not necessary qualify for having the attributes to be given such societal recognition, this has become the craziest standards we have adopted as a culture, as a norm that has made many well-respected Institutions, Corporate bodies and the Government, to sell their birth right and dignity for ephemeral benefits. Awards/Titles and Honours, which ordinarily should have been a sign of societal recognition for one’s selfless-service and worthy accomplishments, have been turned into a ‘product’ that can be bought with money or given in the name of favouritism/nepotism, to the extent that the ‘value’ of such titles/honours and awards have been rubbished and made worthless; from that of the national honours to the least awards you can imagine. At the end of the day, we now have “Persons Of Questionable Characters” bearing society-recognized Awards/Titles and honours.

Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, immediate past Governor of Delta State.

This is the best way we can describe the so many awards and societal titles/honours that have been bestowed upon the former Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, especially during his deplorable eight-years in Delta State Government House as Governor. Some of the most recent publicly-known awards/titles and honours that were suspiciously and erroneously given to Uduaghan during this period include: the Silver Bird Man Of The Year Award by the Silver Bird Group, Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), Traditional Rulers of Delta North & Asagba of Asaba Award, Honorary Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, CBN Best State Government Award on Microfinance/SME, Award by the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion as the “Most Dynamic and Constructive Governor” by the Enugu Diocese of the Church at the All Saints Anglican Cathedral Enugu, Sports Governor of the Year Award, The Sports, Business and Media Awards, and so many other awards, titles and what have you that are known and unknown to the public which were given to the former Delta State Governor.

The only major problem we, and many Nigerians have with these awards/honours and titles given to Uduaghan is the fact that when we consider what these awards/honours and titles (should) represent in our society (upon which they were bestowed on him in the first place), and compare them with the ‘actual realities’ on ground in Delta State as the so called achievements/impact made and legacy left behind by the former Delta State Governor, the ‘huge contrast’ that is evident, makes one to greatly question the credibility and reliability of these awards/titles and honours and why and how they were given in the first place.

We cannot help but wonder the criteria that were used to give these awards/titles and honours to the former Delta State Governor, Uduaghan. We cannot help but ask these questions: before these awards/titles and honours were given to Uduaghan, did they verify or carry out a proper ‘performance assessment’ of Uduaghan while in office? Did they consider the financial status, strength of the Delta State economy, development level of achievement attained by Uduaghan while in office before these awards/titles and honours were given? These and many more are questions that are worth considering to clearly understand what we are trying to state here.

Take the National Honour of CON given to Uduaghan for instance. Considering the fact that the Act establishing the National Honours empowers the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to establish by warrant, the Nigeria Order of Dignity, to honour “deserving citizens” who have contributed (consistently), to the development and progress of the country and to any human field of endeavour, it therefore means that, for any person to be eligible/qualified for the award of National Honours in Nigeria, he or she must have maintained a consistently high moral standard, proven integrity, great repute amongst the populace and one with admirable character who has positively added value to the growth and development of the country and its citizenry. Like many recipients of the said National Honour in the past, we cannot say that the former Delta State qualified to be given the national award based on his obviously poor and unimpressive performance while in office and the deplorable state he has left Delta State in. It is against this reality check that we cannot help but wonder why was Uduaghan considered for and given these awards/titles and honours in the first place?

It is regrettable that Delta State in the last Sixteen years or so is one state in Nigeria where the issues of accountability and transparency have often questioned the integrity of the State government in the management and appropriation of Delta State public funds and resources. A look at Delta State from under the eight years of ex-Governor Uduaghan would reveal that there are more questions than answers, on the part of the State government’s inability to account to Deltans; on how every Naira and kobo of revenue/allocation coming into Delta State’s purse were expended, not to mention the huge amounts of money also ‘borrowed’ by the Delta State government that were not accounted for in all these years.

What we even find more disturbing is the fact that whenever we consider the huge amounts of funds (be it through internal revenues, Federal allocations or borrowed money) that comes into the Delta State Government’s purse every now and then, and then compare this with what we see on ground in terms of development at all levels of the State, the disparity that exists is enough to drive any sane mind mad. Despite several calls by us and well meaning Nigerians in the past, on the need for the now former Delta State Government led by Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, to be accountable and transparent in the management and appropriation of the State’s public funds, we are bewildered the more every now and then by the atrocities that were committed by the former Governor Uduaghan-led Delta State Government as supposed custodians of State’s public funds. It is like the more Deltans cried out for Government’s need for accountability and transparency, the more the government did whatever pleased them with reckless abandon and impunity.

Without mincing words, Delta State has one of the most corrupt State Government in the country that has been running the State in the last 16 years. In all these years, the said Delta State Government is being led by the PDP cabal; comprising of James Ibori (who is now in a UK prison over corrupt practices and misappropriation of Delta State funds), his cousin the immediate former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and more recently newly sworn-in Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. The first two especially, have kept Delta State under their clutches, and have been running and handling the State resources with reckless abandon and impunity as if it is their private business. Despite the fact that this PDP cabal are no longer popular and accepted by the majority of Deltans, they have succeeded in forcing and imposing themselves on the people so as to hold on to power and cover their corrupt tracks. As one was set to leave the Delta State Government House, he did every trick by using the State’s resources to put someone that will cover his tracks and to continue draining the State’s resources without any hindrance. Ibori started it in 1999, and after 8 years he placed his cousin Uduaghan, who continued from where he stopped. And now Uduaghan has succeeded in placing Okowa to take over from him. This has made Delta State to be under the ‘Political Slavery’ of the said PDP cabal.

One of the questions that we need to ask and find answers to (which we believe will help us understand what we are saying here), is: What was the financial status of the immediate former Governor Uduaghan before 1999 when his cousin Ibori, appointed him as Commissioner of Health? And what is his financial status now that he has left Delta State Government House? Without mincing words, we all would be shocked and left speechless if we can carry out an investigation of Uduaghan’s current status of wealth, including that of his family members, and compare it with what it was before he was brought into politics and Delta State Government circle by his cousin Ibori. We would be amazed to discover that as at today, Uduaghan is said to be one of the richest men in Nigeria.

We agree that one is expected to progress in life, especially when one is active in the public service of government. But when one’s income does not commensurate with what one has in terms of ‘supposed acquired wealth’, then we are bound to ask questions.  The question is, how much is Uduaghan’s honest Salaries and allowances as Governor of Delta State for eight years? When compared to his current vast estates and assets across Warri, Asaba, Abuja and only God Knows where else, can we honestly say former Governor Uduaghan’s pay commensurate what he owns? If he cannot justify this, where then did he get the wealth from? What was Governor Uduaghan’s asset before he entered government and what is the current status of this? We all know the obvious answers to these questions.

Uduaghan has not been able to explain to Deltans how he had expended all the money accrued to Delta State as Federal Government allocation revenue plus the internally generated Revenues as well, in the past eight years of his reign in government. But when we gather the figures revealed to the public and compare it with what we have on ground as all the projects and programmes executed by the Uduaghan administration for the public to pass their judgment, the former Delta State Governor would not be seen as one deserving all the awards he has been given..

As we speak, even the ‘basic infrastructural amenities’ like regular power supply, good road networks, a friendly business environment and friendly tax policies are not evident in Delta State. All the Ports around Delta State are not functional. There is no guaranteed security in Delta State as the ‘ill-equipped’ security operatives are left struggling with the battle against kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal elements. When the basic infrastructures are not there, and no guaranteed security, how then will investors be attracted to come and invest in the State? Today, big oil companies like Shell (SPDC), and others have left Delta State and many are still planning to leave to invest in other States like Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, etc, simply because of the ‘unfriendly business’ environment in the State. Yet, the former Uduaghan Government was drumming about “Delta State Beyond Oil”. The Delta State Beyond Oil (DBO) initiative was just a mere expression on paper used by the immediate former Delta State Government to deceive themselves and not the people, to misappropriate public funds.

During the period he was to leave office, Uduaghan was quoted to have said in a lecture that he has diversified the Delta State economy with his DBO initiative and that he had left the state peaceful and secured more than he met it. But how can the former Governor Uduaghan claim to be “leaving Delta State peaceful, secured and better than he met it” when he was not able to provide the basic infrastructure needed for economic growth, assured security and investor-friendly policies that would encourage investors to remain in the State or come in and invest? How can Uduaghan be given the audience to give a lecture on “Good Governance” when the former Governor and his likes have not been able to transparently account for all the huge revenues that have accrued to the State, especially in the last eight years of his administration? How can the former Delta State governor claim he had made Delta State a good example for other countries to follow when big and small oil and gas companies and big businesses relocated out of Delta State during his reign in government as a result of insecurity, lack of basic infrastructure, hostile and  unfriendly-business-environment for investors?

How can Uduaghan claim to have provided jobs for the youths when during his reign in government, restive youths who were mostly PDP thugs harass and extort private companies that were doing genuine business in the State and land developers in Warri, Effurun, Ekpan, Ugboroke and environs for example? How can the PDP-led government under former Governor Uduaghan make such claims in his said public lecture when there was practically no power supply, no good roads, abandoned projects all over cities across the state, etc? What physical evidence does Uduaghan have to have made the above claims, when all he had virtually spent eight years in Government House (plus the eight years of his cousin Ibori) doing were senseless propagandas, publicity-stunts and sponsoring/financing Awards (with Delta State funds), to appear good and ‘hardworking’ in the eyes of the public and the international community. Without mincing words, the immediate past PDP-led Uduaghan government was a ‘failure’ that cannot be used as an example of a State Government that had demonstrated Good Governance and had diversified its State economy.

So, we are therefore baffled and bewildered that in the midst of all this anomaly during his time in office, Uduaghan was still being given awards/tiltles and honours that cannot be justified. During the last few months to the end of his tenure, Uduaghan and his former government were blowing trumpets at every opportunity they get that “the Uduaghan administration was finishing strong.” Yet, Uduaghan reportedly left behind a total debt of more than N773 billion, according to current estimates by officials of the State. They disclosed that ex-Governor Uduaghan accumulated liabilities to the tune of N238.6 billion in the form of bonds, bank debts and related obligations, and an additional N534.6 billion in pure contractual liabilities. These reported facts were reaffirmed by the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, when he recently decried the financial position of the State and disclosed that the government had over N636 billion debts, including contractual obligations, to contend with in the next three years. Is this Uduaghan’s way of “finishing strong;” by leaving the State in serious debts? If Uduaghan wanted to finish strong, it means he would have left Delta State in financial buoyancy and prosperity far better than he met the State. But the reverse has been the case with Uduaghan so called ‘finishing strong’.

Of most disturbing is the fact that despite these mind-boggling revelations of financial atrocities committed by the former Delta State Governor – Uduaghan,  Governor Okowa has not come out to openly tell Nigerians the dire state he met the State’s treasury like we have observed in other States? Why is Governor Okowa obviously shielding the former Governor from being exposed? Why is Governor Okowa acting as if all is well when in reality, the immediate past government of Uduaghan has left a big hole in the State’s public purse that is already adversely affecting the developmental progress of the State? The only answers we can deduce out of this are that Governor Okowa, his immediate predecessor Uduaghan and of course James Ibori, are all birds of the same feathers. It is really sad that all we have had in the last 16 years of democratic rule in Delta State; is a dynasty of corruption of the highest order and impunity, electoral fraud of unimaginable proportions and self-perpetuating government of a ruling cabal of the PDP. That has been the deplorable dynasty and story of Delta State. Who then in their right minds would give awards/titles and even national honours to the former Delta State Governor?

To make matters worse, it is really sad to observe that the same set of persons (whose pedigree and questionable integrity are of great concern), most of whom were in the deplorable immediate past government of Uduaghan, were still absorbed by the current Okowa administration in Delta State. This was what we observed with the recent confirmation of Commissioners (which includes Uduaghan’s brother, Vincent Uduaghan, and his cousin, Omasola Williams), and some so called Special Assistants/Advisers already appointed by Governor Okowa. It clearly shows that the new Delta State Governor is not a serious person who truly wants to serve the people of Delta State and make a difference. When such persons that were part of the immediate past government that had left a deplorable legacy behind in the State, are now appointed/confirmed as one thing or the other by the Okowa government; what kind of advice, input and contribution are we going to expect from them? What iota of ‘needed change’ can such group of supposed public officials make in the new Okowa administration to the benefit of Deltans? Are we going to expect any positive change and development from the Okowa administration with such moves? It is simply sad!

From this analysis, former Governor Uduaghan has obviously left no meaningful projects or infrastructure in Delta State during his eight-year control of the State treasury, save for a dubious Asaba Airport project that has gulped more than N40 billion but has yet to be approved by Nigerian Aviation Authorities because of the facility’s haphazard conception, construction and delivery. In the words of one source: “Today, the five major cities of the State, namely Warri, Asaba, Agbor, Sapele and Ughelli, remain a shadow of themselves.” Another source said that, while a few other oil-producing States were busy advancing the fortunes of their States with such infrastructure as metro rails, stadia and highways, Dr. Uduaghan’s administration “simply dipped its hands in the State treasury and simply asked Deltans to ‘go to hell.’”To put it bluntly, the Delta State Government under Uduaghan (and his cousin Ibori and now Okowa), have been a government that have only enriched themselves, their families and cronies. This only tells us that the former Delta State governor clearly paid for the awards/titles and honours that were bestowed on him during his eight years in government. The said awards/titles and honours were sponsored by Uduaghan, hence they were not given to him on merit. The awards/titles and honours were obviously meant to ‘launder’ his image in the eyes of the public and the international community to create the impression that Uduaghan was working while he was in government, but in reality the reverse is the case.

The unfortunate thing here is the fact that something is intricately wrong with our ‘value system’. It is alien to our culture and heritage to value money, fame, titles and awards over worthy virtues like hardwork, honesty, integrity, empathy, love for one another, etc. Let us state categorically that the worth of a man is not measured by the number of titles or awards he/she received while on earth, but rather by the time tested, concrete, meaningful, valuable, and enduring contributions and achievements which he/she has made towards the lives of those in his/her immediate and remote environment.

A man with a chain of titles and awards who fails to contribute positively to the mental, social, economic, political, spiritual, emancipation and development of his people is like a tree that is in the forest today; when it is cut down and gone tomorrow, it is forever forgotten.

Zik Gbemre,JP.

National Coordinator

Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)